


Knitting for Beginners

by solookup



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-09
Updated: 2012-12-09
Packaged: 2017-11-20 16:45:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solookup/pseuds/solookup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur tries to knit a scarf for Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knitting for Beginners

**Author's Note:**

> For prompt #105 at [insmallpackages](http://insmallpackages.livejournal.com/). Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Originally posted [here](http://solookup.livejournal.com/1100585.html) @ lj. Written in 2010.

Arthur doesn’t think that this is stupid. He _knows_ that this is stupid. Yet, under his mumblings of how this is stupid, he continues on, hissing whenever the knitting needle pokes into one of his sensitive fingers, no thanks to his blundering around the needles.

It all started when Merlin suggested that this year they should change up the way the gift exchange process was done. Merlin even said: “C’mon Arthur, it’d be _fun_!” Arthur can still hear Merlin uttering those words, even if they were said months ago.

Thanks to Merlin’s grand idea for this Christmas, Arthur and Merlin had to find a gift for each other under ten quid. TEN! Arthur spent more than that for his usual lunches.

Despite being with Merlin for over two years, Arthur still didn’t understand his boyfriend’s way of thriftiness. Yes, he got that he was born into money, so he wouldn’t understand the “everyday struggle of everyone else” as Morgana had put it so eloquently. But Merlin was getting paid more than the usual bloke ( _way_ more than), so where did he get off talking about thrifty.

Arthur grinned and bared it, nodding at Merlin’s suggestion, which resulted in Merlin being very happy in bed, and thus, Arthur was happy too.

That happiness only lasted for the night. When morning came, Arthur is reminded before he left for work that he had to “stick to the rules”.

After browsing endlessly at various department stores and tiny semi-this-place-looks-horrid stores, Arthur exhausted his options and really was just tired of the Christmas music and the fake cheerfulness of the clerks after mentioning his budget. (He was sure the fakeness would disappear immediately if he added a few zeros at the end of that one.)

A few days after almost giving up and wanting to load up the money into a gift card and calling it a day, Arthur came across an arts and crafts shop when he walked by to pick up a coffee. The display showed several knitted scarves and jumpers with some tacky Christmas decoration along with it. But Arthur’s eyes weren’t glaring and judging at how awful the display looked. Rather his eyes were glued to the red knitted scarf. He must get that for Merlin.

(It did help that in the morning, he noticed Merlin’s scarf had been fraying a lot, to the point where Arthur just want to sit there and pick at the loose threads.)

He strolled into the shop, his need for coffee temporary forgotten, and approached the counter. “How much is that scarf on the display?”

The old granny with a full hair of white laughed, staring at him like he had horns or something equally ridiculous. “Oh love, that’s not for sale. But you can buy some yarn and knit one for your special someone.”

_How much could that little scarf be?_ Arthur had wanted to ask. But from the way the old granny looked, he held his tongue. She was already out of the counter and walking towards the yarn section.

“Here we have the red yarns. We have plenty to choose from depending if you want – dark red, crimson, fire engine and what-have-you. And on this side are the knitting needles. Next to that are some books on how to knit. I would recommend this one if you want to knit a basic scarf.”

Arthur wasn’t deaf. He could hear the way the old women said _basic_ like she think he couldn’t knit a damn scarf. So he bought up whatever she said he would need and it ended up costing way beyond ten quid. But he would justify that the yarn to _make_ the scarf were under the limit, so technically the gift would be on budget.

Which brings Arthur back to stabbing himself with the knitting needle again. “This better be worth it,” he mutters to himself as he steadies and keeps the instruction book open with his feet.

Since he couldn’t very well knit at home with Merlin walking around the flat and just being _everywhere_ when Arthur wanted some quiet time to work on the gift, so he has no choice but to bring it back to his office. “No one is to disturb me,” he tells his secretary before walking into his much-too-large of an office.

Less than seven days to go until Christmas Day and Arthur is only barely if-you-squint half way to the scarf, and if you don’t count the tassel things at the ends. “Push all my meetings and anything else until after noon,” he says into the intercom. He is giving up work to knit a stupid present. Next year, he is going to insist on the usual no budget gift so he can avoid this entire mess again.

The next morning, he walks by the arts and crafts shop again and decides to drop in to talk to the old granny. He ends up telling her about his struggles with the scarf and his sore finger pads.

“Oh dear, I must have forgotten to tell you about these,” she says apologetically. She hands him a pack of self-adhesive finger pads which would avoid getting the knitting needles jammed into his fingers every time he slipped.

While he looks even more ridiculous with these finger pads stuck onto his fingers, his progress improves much quicker as he doesn’t need to waste time hissing and cursing everything in sight from the pain.

Arthur literally exclaims when he finishes the last of the scarf, only to remember he still has the tassels to make and attach onto the main piece. He puts the scarf around his neck and checks himself out in the mirror. “It does look odd without the tassels,” he tells himself.

The door swings open before he can even react to it. His secretary trails behind a very angry but concerned looking Morgana. “I’m sorry – she just barged in,” his secretary, Sally, he remembers this time around, blubbers away. Arthur waves her off since this is Morgana. No one can stop Morgana if she wanted to enter a room, unless it had something to do with Uther, but even then.

Arthur peers down and it suddenly clicks for him to shove the knitting down to his lap. He grins to cover his embarrassment. “What can I do for you, Morgana?”

“I was all worried about you overworking yourself when you stay in your office all the time,” Morgana starts, “but then I find you knitting instead.”

“It’s for Merlin’s gift,” he replies.

“I can tell. Unless you’re knitting for me, which I would thank you and not thank you at the same time. Then tossing it into the ‘will not ever wear or touch again’ closet.”

“So glad to hear that’s how you’d treat my gift.”

“Well, I’m heading out. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me – until _after_ Merlin opens his gift and I’ll spill how you’ve holed up in your office to knit.”

“I’m sure that will be a lovely story, but shoo before I have to kick you out.”

Another handful of hours later, Arthur finally finishes the last tassel and attaches it to the scarf. He would never admit that his scarf is subpar to the one on display, probably made by the same granny who sold him the materials and probably had been knitting longer than him and Merlin combined. Either way, he impresses himself at how well it actually looked because now he wants to keep it as his own and just give Merlin a gift card.

Arthur tosses the extra folders aside and uses the box for the scarf since buying a box would likely put him over the budget. And he is too lazy to go out and brave the crowds just to buy a cardboard box. He places the scarf in, patting it because he’s sad to see it go, and wraps it up with some colour paper he’s found around the office. He attaches the Christmas card that’s been written since the beginning of November, well before he’s found a suitable gift, and breathes out a sigh of relief as he’s finally finished the present.

Merlin better appreciates all the hard work he’s put into the present because Arthur cannot contemplate seeing those knitting needles and that blasted book again.

+

Arthur watches as Merlin flails about and stares in shock at the red scarf he’s holding in his hands. Right away Arthur can tell Merlin knows that Arthur’s knitted this himself because while Arthur does continue to claim the scarf is The Best Thing Ever, it really isn’t and there’s a bit of a hole in one of the ends because he misread the instruction at the beginning about the rows and ran off for a bit when Merlin called him out for supper.

Merlin wraps it around Arthur’s neck and pulls him into a kiss. “Thank you,” he says quietly, still in awe at the scarf and all that. “And you know I appreciate all the hard work you’ve put into it,” he adds, voicing what Arthur is thinking in his head right at that moment.

It turns out Merlin returns the appreciation to Arthur in bed too.


End file.
